With release of patch 1.2, Honkai: Star Rail introduced a new character named Blade. He is a Destruction-type character with the Wind element, making him the first of his kind in the game.
Similar to Arlan, he is a character that sacrifices HP for higher damage output. However, the difference is that while Arlan becomes stronger when losing HP, Blade uses her HP to increase the damage he deals.
Due to Blade controllable mechanism, his damage output is much more consistent and of course significantly higher.
Best Light Cones
All builds for Blade focus on increasing his damage and HP. Moreover, any mechanisms that help him utilize or manage HP more easily will be very beneficial for Blade. In this case, only 2 light cones can fill this requirement:
- The Unreachable Side: Increases the wearer’s CRIT rate by 18/21/24/27/30% and increases their Max HP by 18/21/24/27/30%. When the wearer is attacked or consumes their own HP, their DMG increases by 24/28/32/36/40%. This effect is removed after the wearer uses an attack.
- : Increases DMG dealt by the wearer by 20/25/30/35/40%. The wearer also deals an extra 20/25/30/35/40% of DMG to enemies with a higher HP percentage than the wearer.
Best Relic and Planar Sets
As mentioned above, Blade requires both damage and HP to maximize his potential.
Damage can be easily obtained by focusing on Critical and Wind Damage. However, for HP you only have options to look for flat HP or percentage-based HP. Speed is also important so that he can activate her Talent as quickly as possible.
Taking all that into accounts, the best will be newly released Longevous Disciple for relic sets. I can say that the dev release this relic specifically for Blade. Both effects are very useful for Blade, namely the bonus HP and the bonus Critical when he loses HP due to teammates, including himself.
| 4 Longevous Disciple | (2) Increases Max HP by 12%. (4) When the wearer is hit or has their HP consumed by an ally or themselves, their CRIT Rate increases by 8% for 2 turn(s) and up to 2 stacks. |
For planar ornaments, you can go with Inner Salsotto which increase CRIT Rate, Ultimate, and Follow Up Damage.
| Inert Salsotto | (2) Increases the wearer’s CRIT Rate by 8%. When the wearer’s current CRIT Rate reaches 50% or higher, the wearer’s Ultimate and follow-up attack DMG increases by 15%. |
Teammates for Blade?
As a Destruction character with high HP and damage, Blade can serve as the main DPS character in the team. However, because he has a mechanism of using HP to gain bonus damage, he should ideally be played with characters that can provide shields.
March 7th could be an ideal choice for Blade due to her choose-to-apply shield, allowing Blade to use her skills and Ultimate without fear of being knocked out by enemy attacks. Other tank characters like Fire Trailblazer and Gepard can also fulfill this role. The remaining party slots can be filled with a healer and utility or sub-DPS.
How to Use Blade?
Using Blade is quite simple. You always want to use his skill when his turn comes up. After that, you can use normal attacks until the Skill’s effect runs out.
You want to activate Blade’s Talent effect as quickly as possible, as it is a major source of his damage. This means his Ultimate should also be used as soon as it’s ready.
